Mechanical card-accounting.



C. H. TALLMADGE.

yMECHANICAL CARD'ACCOUNTING.

A PPLlcATloN mep 00h10. Isla.

Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

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C. \H. TALLMADGE.

MECHANICAL CARD ACCOUNTING.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. Io. ma.

. 1,247,899.v y PatenIedN0v-2z1917.

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manana ww MngzaW/ aannam 5mm/5 mannen Pro2/@ APPLICATION FILED OCT. I0, IBIS.

Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

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AIL/@72716575 UNITED sTATEs PATENT onirica CHARLES H. TALLMADGE, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, .ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM R. HEATH,

F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

MECHANICAL Gaan-acccomme.r

Specification of Letters Patent. i. Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

Application led October 10, 1913. -Serial No. 794,426.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that'I, CHARLES H. TALL- MADGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of Nea7 York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mechanical Card-Accounting, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention is an improvement inthe art of mechanicalY card accounting, as exemplified by the wellknown^Hollerith 'methods and devices.

My invention may be regarded as based upon the recognition of the fact that in double-entry bookkeeping 'each transaction ordinarily recorded in greater or less detail in a journal, involves, typically, a debit in `one ledger account and a counterbalancing credit in some other ledger account, and of the further facts that, lwhile a considerable degree of intelligence is required in determining which ledger account is to be debited and which `ledger account is to be credited,

` and a high degree of skill is required in makingthe original entries,k the subsequent op'- t the ledger, involve merelyroutine clerical erations, consistin of the so-called posting from journal to le ger and the balancing o work, which neither requires nor permits account being made debitinly and in the any discretion as to what shall be done. If each journal entry is made thesubject of two entries in ledger accounts, the entry in'one other account creditingly, an if the amount entered in one of the ledger accounts is identical with the amount entered in the other,

f the ledger (properly footed) will balance,

If, furthermoref, in each instance the posting is made in con ormity with the journal,l then the ledger will not only balance, but it will be in harmony with the journal, both as a whole and as to each account. Both ofv these results, the balance and the harmony, are' essential to correct double-entry bookkeeping; but while the subsequent routine operations in securing them are very simple in theory, they are far from easy of performance in practical bookkeeping, bein liable to the following principal classes o errors: v

the designation of ledger accounts and amount as entered in `stencils` which may The omiion to post the original entry, 1n Whole or in part; l

The duplication of such posting; The posting of a wrong amount;

N The posting of the correct amount to the wrong-account, or to the Wrong side ofthe ri ht account; p

he erroneous footing or 'nettingof one or more accounts, two such errors sometimes offsetting each other in such away thatthe ledger apparently balances while containing more or less serious error; ,I

And finally, Athe erroneous combining of the balances of the appropriate accounts into` the unique syntheses known as the balance sheet and the' profit and loss statement;

It is not the purpose of my invention t0 avoid the necessity for the exercise of discriminating intelligence in making the proper original entries, including both the representation lof the amount of the transaction and some appropriate designation, in

eachcase, of the ledger account to be debited and the ledger account to be credited' but it is my purpose to substitute mechamca processes and means Ffor the mental and manual work in posting from the original entries intol the ledger and'in balancing the.

various ledger accounts and the ledger as a whole. In so doin I greatl reduce and for the most part w olly eliminate the liabilities to error in the routine operations s.

above set foth, and also gfeatl time required to bala-ncet e le ger and obtain the surplus or profit figures, and I thus .render 1t `feasible to secure these valud`^ without the eat labor able 'results dail is practica y prohibi-v now requi ed, w 1ch tive.

In carryin out my xinvention I have found it desirable to jmake use of much that isdisclosed incertain inventions of Herman Hollerith as described for exam le in Holleriths United States Patents os. 395,781; 395,782 395,783; 682,197; 685,197; 685,608; 695,933, and Reissue'No. 12,523.

reduce the i These I-Iollerith patents disclose cards or be punched with holes in positions determined by and corres ondi with the sets of data to be` classi ed an tabulated. They alsoV disclose machineshfor punching the cards and sorti g them into classes or groups this sortingl or classification being commi the position of the los .of a given transaction 35 holes punchedin a classification field of each card. They also disclose a computing machine for adding or totalizing the amounts represented by the holes punched in an amount field of each card of any group which it is desired thus to tabulate.

The best mode in which I have contemplated applying the principle of my invention involves the use of these devices of the Hollerith patents and my invention may, in so far, be regarded as an improvement upon the inventions disclosed in the said Hollerith patents. Vhile the use of my invention permits the automatic attainment of important results which have heretofore involved a large amount of mental and manual labor, it may be very simply and briefly described by having recourse to the disclosures of the aforesaid Hollerith patents.

In preferred simple concrete form, my invention involves the provision of record cards, one field or space of each of which cards is assigned to the amount of the transaction whieh the card is to represent. Another field or space is assigned to those accounts which are to be debited and another field or space is assigned to those accounts which are to be credited. For convenience, at least, these three fields of each of the record cards are printed with columns of digits running from O to 9. The record card may be made to re resent the amount by punching holes through the spaces occupied by the printed digits corresponding with the amount of the transaction. In accordance with my invention, each of the accounts, which may conveniently be thought of as a ledger account, is given a number. Thus the cash account maybe known as account No. 010 and the restaurant receipts account as No. 869, etc. In accordance with my invention, each transaction involves not merely the punching of the amount in the amount field of a record card, but also in every instance the punching in the debit field of the number of the account to be debited and in the credit field the number of the account to be credited. This punching in both the debit and credit fields of each and every card corresponding with each and every transaction is a necessary feature of my invention when applied, as is my intention, to accounting by the aid of the Hollerith system of business transactions and conditions upon the principles heretofore followed in double-entry bookkeeping. It is convenient also in the practice of my invention that any combination of figures in the debit field shall designate precisely the same ledger account as the 'same combination offigurcs in the credit field. Thus, to illustrate. the combination of figures 01.0 when punched in thc credit field designates the cash account just as truly as does this combination of figures when punched in the debit field. In the same way, the merchandise account, the bills receivable account, the hills payable account and every other account will be given some one number or combination of figures, and any one of these numbers will refer to its own particular ac-A preferably by means of the Hollerith sorting machine. The lines of division to be observed in this sorting of the cards will be dependent upon the particular results which it is desired to secure. If. for example. we Wish to secure the total debits and credits to each of the primary ledger accounts, the sorting and subsequent tabulation ma)v be handled as follows: All of the cards which are punched with the number 001 in the debit field will be sorted into a single group separate from all the other cards of the lot. Then all of the cards which are punched with the combination O02 in the debit field will be separated into a group. Presently, the cards representing a debit to cash will he collected into a group, all of the' cards in this group being punched in the debit field with the number 010. Finally, the cards representing a debit to account No. 869, and the other cards representing debits to each of the other accounts, will all be sorted into groups. The record cards of each ,group will represent all of those transactions in which the particular account is to be debited.

TheneXt step involves the computation of the total debits to each ledger account. These computations are made automatically bv running each group of cards through the Hollerith computing machine, as disclosed. for example, in Hollerith Patent No. 998,095. Thus, to illustrate, the group of cards whose debit fields are punched with the designation of account No. O01 will be run through the Hollerith computing machine, which will compute and exhibit theA total of all of the amounts, represented upon the cards of this first group. In like manner, the cards of every other group are run through a Hollerith computing machine to determine automatically the total debits to cash, merchandise, bills payable, bills receivable, etc. We now have the tabulation of the amounts to be debited to cach and all of the various ledger accounts. y

It is now necessar)v to secure a tabulation of the amounts to be credited to each and ,all of these same accounts. This is accomplished by returning all of the record cards to the sorti-n machine, whereupon they are again sorted into separate groups. The line kof division between the several groups is based in this case, however, upon the punchings in the credit fields of the several cards. For example, all of those cards whose credit fields are punched with the numberOOl will be sorted and collected into `one group. All of the cards whose credit fields are punched with the numerals 002 will be sorted into a Vsecond `group andfin like manner, all 'of the recor cards will be *sorted into separate groups such that all of the cards in each group Will have the same account v number punched in their credit fields.

We are now ready to compute and tabulate the amounts to be credited to the several accounts. This is accomplished by running the cards of each group througha Hollerith computing machine, \which will automatically compute and display the total of the amounts punched in the cards of each group. y vWhen the cards of all of the groups have thus been computed, we have avv tabulation of the amounts to be credited to the several accounts. It will be apparent, therefore, that the counterbal'anced punching of the record cards enables us to secure automatically the 'total debit and total credit to each account. v l

Inasmuch as the balance is the essence of anaccount, and as it is not necessary that any given card should remain permanently inthe file of an particular account, after it has been 'tota ed with its fellows (especially when the cards pertaining to any glven account may be conveniently reassembled in that account, if needed), itwill be evident that the substance of ymy generic process may be preserved while using only one card e for each transaction, if, that one card is twice handled, once debitingly and 'once creditmgly. In thls particular form of the process, 1 therefore, at any convenient time, vas

daily in heavy accounts and weekly in others,` all the primary cards may be sorted accord-` in to the account-debitable, and fthe total de it' to .each account may be ascertained and recorded, either on a separate sub-total f card or otherwise; and then the same pri-- mary cards may be sorted accordingito the account-creditable, and the total 'of each ac'- count may likewise beascertained and re-` corded, elther separately or inl combination with the debitpto the same account; and at vce subsequent convenient dates the intervening d ebits and credits A'each account may be similarly ascertained and may then be combined with the totals `,of the previous date'or dates. A n

In pract1ce,I prefer to punch counterbalancingly vtwo cards representative of each transaction. i One of the two cards maybe l White and the other red, Ain which case the white cards may be sorted and computed to secure the total debits, while the red cards are sorted and computed to secure the total credits. This use of two cards representa-tive ofk each transaction avoids the necessityu for twice sorting-the same cards.

It also permits the formation of an/ex. elusive and permanent file for eachledger account, commonly composed of both debit and credit cards, easily distinguishable by. Y color. While each card of the set has both debit and credit fields, the credit field may be lgnored on the White or debit card, and the debit field may be ignored on the red 'or credit card.

record of all the transactions.' If the three cards are disposed, one upon another, and punched simultaneously and in precisely the same manner, then the yellow cards may be referred to an auditor, who is enabled to check the punching to see that they correc-tly represent the accounting of the transactions With which they should conform. If the auditor finds ,that the yellow cards arelcorrectly punched, it goes without say- 5 ing that the white cards and the red cards X will also have been correctly punched, and it is found in practice that the sorting and computing machines can be relied upon implicitly to sort the cardsvand compute the totals in conformity with the punchings. Since, therefore, the accuracy of the punching of the 'journal cardsis proof of the accuracy of the whole accounting process, the work of checking or auditing 1s greatly facilitated. Furthermore, the only auditing that is requisite can be carried on simul-g taneously vwith ythe sorting and computation of the debit `and credit cards, ating any delay in securing the final results and in establishing the accuracy of the finalv results.

, If the checking of'the yellowcards alone rto establish the accuracy of the punching of all three cards discloses an inaccuracy in the punching of any set of cards, 1t is only necessary to recall the erroneously punched whiteand red cards of the setl or, have already been sorted and computed, `it is onlyfnecessary to punch a'new set of cards with the debit and credit^ punchings reversed and to sendthis cancellation set of cards through the usual steps of the processfin order to clear the error. -A new and correctly punched set of cards may then be sent through the usualbprocesses to bring about the results whichl would have been thus obviT if they obtained in the first instance except for the inaccuracy of the original punching of a particular set of cards.

few years ago, it was customary to ascertain the state of a business once a year. While that is perhaps still the most common custom, there are progressive business houses in which the books are closed quarterly, or even monthly. The advantage ofthe monthly closing of the books is that the managing head of the business can ascertain from month to month the amount of his assets, the amount of his liabilities, the amount of his surplus, etc. It is these highly generic accounts and balances Which truly and clearly refiect the condition of the business, and the progressive manager is unwilling to wait from one years end to another in order to ascertain what the condition of his business may be. In most cases, the manager would Welcome a daily showing of the condition of his business, but the accounting methods of the prior art have made this practically impossible because of the labor involved in the routine work of posting, footing and balancing the accounts.

My invention makes it entirely feasible to secure a daily statement of the condition of the business, in other Words, .a daily show-A ing of assets, liabilities, surplus, etc. It is the showing of assets, liabilities, and surplus, which most readily indicates the condition of a business. If, therefore, the head of a business can have placed before him each day a showing of assets, liabilities and surplus, and can note their variations from day to day, he has in hand a means for de-v tecting at once any tendency of the business to vary Widely from its normal course. He is notified, therefore, of any abnormality Lalmost from the time of its existence and he is put at once, therefore, into a position to investigate and determine the reason for the abnormality and to take steps to correct or take advantage of the unusual condition as reflected in the statement placed daily before him.

Itis possible and feasible to secure these daily statements in the use of my invention, since, in the first place, the several ledger accounts may be classified broadly as asset accounts or as liability accounts or as expense accounts, or as revenue accounts. These broad classes of accounts have this peculiar interrelation: The difference between the total assets and the total liabilities is the surplus, and the difference between the total expenses and the total revenues is the profit, and in any properly constituted set of books the profit (or loss) and the surplus (or deficit) for any given period are equal in amount. After the cards have been punched, therefore, they may be sorted first in accordance with the broad classification `Larnaca just referred to, that is to say, thel debits to asset. accounts may be sorted into a separate group, the debits to liability accounts may be sorted into another group, the debits to expense accounts may be grouped, and the debits to revenue accounts may be segregated. So also the credits to each of these classes may be separately grouped. These eight groups may then be computed in a few moments by running the several groups through' the Hollerith computing machines with the result that We shall have at once the total debits and the total credits to assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues. These give us at once the net assets and the net liabilities, as' also the net expenses and the net revenue. The difference between the net assets and the net liabilities is the surplus, whereas the difference between the net expenses and the net revenues is the profit. The profit will equal the surplus accumulated in any given period of time. If these balances as determined by the operation of the Holler-ith computing machines are equal it may be assumed fairly that the sorting and computation has been accomplished with that mechanical accuracy which is to be eX- pected. If for any reason the profit should differ from the surplus, it is an indication of some mistake as, for example, the loss of a card. The warning thus promptly given enables the mistake to be ascertained and as promptly corrected.

After the record cards have served their purpose in showing the assets, liabilities, surplus, etc., they may be re-sorted into groups conforming with the scheme of primary ledger accounts and made the basis of such computations and tabulations as were first referred to in this description. It will be apparent that the broad classification and grouping of the record cards to secure an immediate showing of assets, liabilities, surplus, etc., will introduce but very little, if any, delay in the process of ascertaining the daily balances in all of the primary ledger accounts.

These various features of my invention can be described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l illustrates a setY of record cards;

Fig. 2 illustrates one manner in which the record cards may be grouped for certain purposes;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the manner in which certain classes of debits and credits may be combined to show the assets and liabilities, expenses and revenues, and the surplus and rofit; and

Fig. .1. illustrates in detail) the manner in which the totalizers may be connected together in order to operate in conformity with the diagram of Fig. 3.

In Fig. 1, I have shown a white record card A, a rred record card B` and a yellow record .card C. Eachj'of these cardscom-` prises an amount field fa, a debit field d and a credit field c. Upon each of these ields is printed one or more columns of digits from 0 to `9 inclusive, one column being assigned to the units order, one column to the tens order, oneto the hundreds order, another to the thousands order, etc. The three cards shown in Fig. 1 may be superposed one upon the other. These cards may be placed in a Hollerith punching machine, as shown, for example, in Patent No. 682,197. If the amount of4 the particular transaction is $10.00, a hole will be punched through the numeral 1 in the fourth order, while other holes will be punched through the zerosy both to thevleft and to the right of the fourth column. If the account to be vcredited is No. `869, a hole will be punched through the numeral 8 in the third column of the credit field, .another hole will be punched throuo'h the 6 in the tens column and another hole through the 9 in the units column of the credit field. If the account to be debited is account No. 10, then a hole will be punched through the numeral 1 'in the tens column of-/the debit field, while other holes will be unched through the zeros in the hundre s andthe units columns of figures in this field.v

All three of these cards when thus punched will indicate the fact that the particular transaction under consideration in volves a debit to account No. 10 and a credit to account No. 869, and that the amount of the transaction is $10.00. A like set of 'three cards is punched in laccordance with the factsor data of every other transaction, the punching of all of the cards being done in conformity with a fixed ystandard which is pre-arranged and to which the person who punches the cards must have recourse or familiarity. Thus the standard .will designate each accountby a number` different from that assigned to any other account and the. operator lin punching the cards 'representative of each transactlon must un'ch the holes in the several fieldsin conormity with thisy pre-arranged and fixed standard.

Although there are, advantages to b e securedl in the use of .triplicate cards, such as are shown in Fig. 1, it is possible to carry out my inventlon with but a 'single card representative of each transaction. I have heretofore explained the manner in which the sorting and computing is carried i out when a single card is used. I have described also how theV sorting and'computing may be carried on when two cards are used,

one white and one red. I- have described also how the yellow journal card may be used for the purposesof audit,- thereby permitting the white and red cards to be sorted Aasset accounts within a lcards shown in Fig. 2.

and computed without-delay, and providing the advantage also that a single perception `of the amount and of the identity of the accounts to be debited and credited will serve to check the accuracy of the punching of both the white card and the red card. The yellow cards would ordinarily be` filed in chronological order correspondin more or less closely with the order in whic the transactions have occurred, whereas the white cards and the red cards, after they have been sorted and computed, are filed in groups, each group being peculiar to its own account. If it is desired at once to secure the statement of assets, liabilities and surplus', and expenses, revenuesand profit, all of the cards 'which havebeen punched torepresent. say a days transactions, will be sorted into eight groups, as indicated in Fig. 2. If the duplicate cards, one whiteand one red, are used, as indicated in Fig.l 1, then the four groups of cards at thefleft will be used .in tabulating debits, while the four groups vat the right will be used in tabu-l lating credits.

'All of the primary ledger accounts can Iao be classified under cnev of four heads, as

follows: asset accounts, liability accounts, expense accounts Iand revenue accounts. For convenience in sorting the cards, it is desirable in practice to number all of the iven range, all of the liability accounts wit in a given range, etc. Thus, in the Yillustration which I have chosen, I have numbered all of the primary ledger accountis which may be classified as asset accounts with numbers from 1 to 299; the liability accounts are numbered from 300 to .599',the` expense accounts are numbered froml 600 `to 799, and the revenueaccounts'arenumbered from 800 to' 999. It

vwill be noted that these numbers are assigned tothe diiierent classes of accounts in-even hundreds, as indicated by the shading upon the' debit and credit fields of the Thus, the debit field of the card at the upper left-hand corner is shaded over the space'in which any number from 1 vto 299 would be punched. This shading, ofcourse, does not appear on the cards, butis shown in the figure merely to indicate the groups.

It is necessary now to sort the debit cards .c

into four oups according as the accounts representer by the several'cards fall into one or another of the four classes: assets, liabilities, ex complis ed by the use of a Hollerith reissue sorting machine, such as is'illustrated in Hollerith Patent No. 12,523. The assignment of the numbers to the four classes offk accounts in evenv hundreds greatly facilitates the sorting into groups,as`\ indicated in Fig. 2. Thus, for example, all of the. white nses, revenues. This sorting is accards which are punched in the 0, 1, or 2 space of the hundreds column will fall into one group, and no card which is punched in any other space in the hundreds column will fall within this'group. A single sorting of the cards based upon the punching in the hundreds order alone will, therefore, suflice to separate the cards into the four debit groups, as indicated at the left of Fig. 2. In like manner, cards in accordance with the hundreds column of the will sulice to separate the credit cards into the four necessary groups. The group of cards at DA are the cards representing transactions involving debits to asset accounts; the group indicated at DL is comprised of cards representing transactions involving debits to liability accounts; the

the punching in group indicated at DE comprises cards rep-- resenting transactions involving debits to expense accounts, and the group indicated at DR comprises cards representing transactions involving debits to revenue accounts. The credit cards are grouped in like inanner*that is to say, the group indicated at CA comprises cards representing transactions involving credits to asset accounts; the group indicated at CL comprises cards representing transactions involving credits to liability accounts; the group indicated at ,CE comprises cards representing transactions involving credits to expense accounts, and the group indicated at CR comprises cards representing transactions involving credits to revenue accounts.

The uppermost card of the group DA is punched with number 10 in the debit field and with number 869 in the credit field, and is punched to represent $10.00 as the amount of the transaction. This punching means that the transactionrepresented by this particular card involved a debit to primary account No. l0, which in this illustration is the number of the cash account. In this illustration also, account No. 869 is restaurant receipts. This card represents a transaction involving thereccipt of $10.00 from or by the restaurant. For conven` icnce, I have put the correspondin credit card on the top of the group CR. he cash account is an asset account, and the White card representing this particular transaction, therefore falls in the DA group. The restaurant receipts account is a revenue account, and the red card representing this transaction, therefore falls in the CR group. The uppermost card in the DL group is punched with the number 360 in the debit field, and with the number 725 in the credit field, and to represent $7.00 as the amount of the transaction. Primary account No. 360 is a liability account, and this debit card therefore falls in the DL group. Account No. 725 is an expense account, and the a similar sorting of the red credit field alone corresponding red card falls, therefore, in the CE group; and for convenience I have shown this particular card at the top of the pile.

Account No. 612 is an expense account: the card whose debit field is punched with this number, therefore, falls in the DE group, as shown. This particular card represents a transaction involving a credit to the cash account No. 10. Since the cash account is an asset account, the corresponding credit card falls in the group CA, as shown at the upper right-hand corner of Fig. 2. Account N o. 980 is a revenue account. The transaction represented by the card Whose debit field is punched with the number 980 falls, therefore, in the DR group, as shown. The transaction represented by this particular card involved a credit to account No. 360. Since account No. 360 is a liability account, the corresponding credit card falls in the CL group, as shown.

IVhen the cards have been divided into the eight groups, as illustrated in Fig. 2, each group is run through a Hollerith computing machine, as shown, for example, in Hollerith Patent No. 998,095, whereby the total of the debits to asset accounts, the total of debits to liability accounts, and the totals of the debits and credits represented in the remaining groups are secured, whereupon the surplus or deficit and the profits or loss are directly ascertainable.

If but a single card representative of each transaction had been punched, it would lbe necessary, first, to group the cards in accordance with the punchings in their debit elds, whereupon the total of the debits to each of the four classes of accounts would have been computed; then the cards would havepbeen re-sorted in accordance with the punchings in the credit fields, whereupon the credits to the four classes of accounts would have been computed.

For the sake of simplicity in explanation, I have referred merely to four broad classes of accounts. It is frequently desirable, in practice, to subdivide these four classes into subclasses, and if it is desired to secure a subclassifed showing or statement, the cards will be sorted into groups corresponding with the subclassiiication of accounts, and the amounts of the debits and credits in the various subclasses will be'computed' automatically in the manner already described. i or convenience, the accounts falling within the first subclass of asset accounts may be given numbers from 1 to 99; the second subclass of asset accounts may be given numbers from 100 to 199, and so on through all of the several classes, thereby facilitating the sorting of the cards into the subgroups, as well as into the main groups as indicated in Fig. 2.

After the cards are sorted and computed automatically to secure the showing' of assets, liabilities, expenses vand revenues, and

lof such subtotals as may be desired, the

cards will be sorted into groups'in. conformity with the scheme of numbers assigned` upon the standard to the various primary ledger accounts, whereupon the totals of the various groups are automatically compi ed' /to secure the total debits and credit@ to each of the primary accounts.

In carrying out my invention as thus described, the. Various steps can be carried on wholly automatically'and without the possibility of error due to the fallibility o'f human minds and hands, except for the steps of arranging the standard assigning the fields and punching them with the appropri- .ate holes,`and except also for the steps inl lhave spoken of these two totalizing devices .i se

volving the subtraction o f debits from credits or credlts from debits. My invention may, however, be `carried farther to secure the balances automatically. `Before dej scribin the mechanism whereby this is accomplihed, I shall refer briefly to. Fig. 3, which illustrates diagrammatically the totalizing registers and the manner in which the totals are to be combined to secure the ropriate balances.

ap y

two totalizers or registers marked, respectively, Dn and Cn In connection with each of these totalizers, I have indicated a hopper h illustrativeof the hopper or slot through which a, group of cards is fed for computation, as in the Hollerith computing machines Under the caption Assets I have, therefore, represented two Hollerith computing machines, which may be oper-- ated 'to ascertain and'exhibit by means of totalizer numeral wheels the totals of the amounts represented upon the cards fed into the respective hoppers or slots.` While I as separate machines, they may, of course, be distinct totalilzing units of a single machine.

The credits to asset accounts are to be sub# tracted `from the debits to asset-accounts to secure the net assets. I have, therefore, indicated a totalizer marked Net assets which is automatically operated to show the difference between the debits and the credits to asset accounts.

necessary mechanism; v

The totalizer marked Net liabilities is, in like manner, operated to display the difference betweenv the credits and the debits "to liability accounts'.

The surplus (or deicit) is the difference between net assets and net liabilities, and in Fig. 3 I have representada totalizer marked Surplus which is o erated automatically to display this iierence-in 6b other words, to displaythe surplus.

. nder the caption Assets I have -shewn Fig. 4 illustrates theA lconstruction and mode of operation of .the

.fastened rigidly to ample, by means of the fixed, journal shaft y The lower half of. 3 represents a Y similar combination of totalizers operating to show the total debits and the total credits to both expense accounts and -revenue ac-A counts, and operating also to show. net expenses and net revenues, `and to show also the difference between net expenses and net revenues, which is the profit (or loss).

Fig. f1 illustrates the mechanism necessary to combine or synthesize the totals computed in the several Hollerith computing machines or in the several units of a sire gle machine.` It may help in understanding the mechanism of Fig. 4, to point out that the numeral wheels of the totalizer marked Surplus in Fig. 3 must tendto advance in conformity lwith the advancement of the corresponding numeral wheels of the net assets totalizer.

conformity with the' advancement of the corresponding numeral wheels of the totalizer assigned to the totalization of debits to asset accounts, but the numeral wheels of the not assets totalizer must also tend to move backwardly in conformity with the rotation of the corresponding numeral wheels of the totalizer assigned to vcredits to asset accounts. In like manner, the numeral wheels of the surplus register must tend to move not only forwardly in conformity with the rotation of the numeral wheels of the net The numeral wheels of the net assets totalizer must tendto advance `in 135 assets register, but must tend also to move backwardly'in conformity with the rotation 111 or 112, as the case may be. 'f Let. us conline our attention for a moment to the driv.

ing.' of the units numeral wheel 100 of the surplusregister. This units numeral wheel must be advanced when 'the units-numeral wheel of .the net assets register is advanced, providin the units numeral wheel ofthe net'liabilities register is atthe moment sta tionary. It also must be driven backwardly when the units numeral wheel of the net liabilities register is advanced, providing the units numeral wheel of the net assets register i s l at that time stationary. The drivmg pinion 110 is, therefore, formed integrally with the bevel gear 113 of a differential gear, the mate1l4 of this driving gear '113 being the frame, as for exlso V 115. The common gear 116 is provided withy a bevel pinion 117 mounted upon aradial journal mounted in the common gear 116 in the usual manner. lVhen, therefore, the common gear 116 is rotated, the bevel pinion 117 will roll upon the gear 114 to advance the bevel gear 113 and the driving pinion 110, as a result of which the rotation of the gear 116 will cause the rotation of the numeral wheel 100. The driving gear 116 of the differential set is in mesh with a spur gear 118. This gear 118 is a common gear of a differential set similar to that already described, except that the driving gears 119 and 120 are both rotatably mounted upon the journal shaft 120. The driving gear 119 is formed integrally with a pinion 121, which is in mesh with a gear 122 formed integrally with the units numeral wheel 123 of the net liabilities register. The other driving gear 120 of the differential set, whose common gear is shown at 118, is formed integrally7 with a spur pinion 124 which is in mesh with a spur gear 125 formed integrally with the unit-s numeral wheel 126 of the net assets register.

I shall now stop to describe the operation of this part of the mechanism. If the units numeral wheel 123 of the net liabilities register is advanced in the direction indicated by the arrow upon the spur gear 122, the spur pinion 121 will be rotated in the reverse direction, as indicated by the arrow upon the periphery of this wheel. Movement will be transmitted through the bevel driving gear 119 to the common gear 118 of the differential set, this common gear being caused to -rotate in the direction shown by the arrow upon its periphery. Since this common gear .118 is in mesh with the spur gear 116, the latter will be caused to rotate in the direction of the arrow upon its periphery; and since the bevel gear 114 is fixed in position, the bevel gear 113 and the spur pinion 110 will be rotated in the direction shown by the arrow upon the periphery of the pinion 110. The rotation of the pinion 110 will cause the rotation of the gear 107 in mesh therewith, the latter being rotated in the direction of the arrow upon its periphery. If, therefore, the numeral wheel 123 is turned forwardly one-tenth of a revolution, the numeral wheel 100 will be turned backwardly one-tenth of a revolution. This, however, is on the assumption that the numeral wheel 126 has been meanwhile stationary. Let us now assume that the numeral wheel 123 remains fixed in position while the numeral wheel 126 is advanced one-tenth of a revolution, as indicated by the arrow upon the peripheryI of the associated gear wheel 125. Such rotation of the gear wheel 125 will cause the pinion 124 to rotate in the direction of the arrow upon its periphery. This pinion will, in turn, cause meral wheels 130 and 131. lthe units numeral wheel 100 of the surplus the bevel gear 120 to rotate in the direction of the arrow upon its periphery. This, in turn, will cause the common gear 118 of the differential set to be rotated in a direction the reverse of that indicated by the arrow 7 upon its periphery. So also, as before, the gears and pinions 116, 110 and 107 will be caused to rotate in directions the reverse of those indicated by the arrows upon their peripheries. This, in turn, will cause the numeral wheel 100 to be turned in the direction the reverse of that indicated by the ar! row upon the periphery of the associated gear 107. In other words, one-tenth of a forward revolution of the units numeral wheel 126 of the net assets register will cause a corresponding one-tenth forward rotation of the units numeral wheel 100 of the surplus register.

The units numeral wheel 123 of the net liabilities register is connected through gearing identical with that already described. as a result of which the forward rotation of the units numeral wheel 130 of the liabilities credit register will cause a corresponding forward rotation of the units numeral wheel 123 of the net liabilities register, whereas a forward rotation of the units numeral wheel 131 of the liabilities debit register will cause a corresponding backward rotation of theunits wheel 123 of the net liabilities register. The operation of the differential gearing is such that the numeral wheels 130 and 131 may rotate similitaneously or at different times, but in any case the unitsA numeral wheel of the net liabilities register will be moved forwardly or backwardly in conformity with the difference in the degree of rotation of the two nu- In like manner,

register will be moved forwardl f or backwardly in conformity with the difference in the degree of rotation of the two numeral wheels 126 and 123. v

Thus far I have described only the driving of the several numeral wheels of units order. The numeral wheels of the tens order are connected through similar gearing to be operated in the same manner. Thus, for example, the tens numeral wheel 101 of the surplus register will be moved forwardly or backwardly in conformity with the difference in degree of rotation of the tens numeral wheel 140 of the net liabilities regis- 120 ter and the tens numeral wheel 14.1 of the net assets register. In like manner, the tens numeral wheel 140 of the net liabilities register will be moved forwardly or backwardly in conformity with the difference` in the degree of rotation of the tens numeral wheel 150 of the liabilities credit register and the tens numeral wheel 151 of the liabilities debit register. The hundreds numeral wheels are geared together in the same manner.

Thus far 1 have not referred to the fact thatl whenever a numeral wheel of a lower yorder in any of the totalizers passes from its 9 to its 0 position, it must carry one into the numeral wheel of the saine totalizer or register of next higher order. I shall now describe the mechanism for effecting these carrying operations:

The units numeral wheel 100^of the surplus register is provided with a male Geneva carrying gear 170, the tooth of which is adapted tovmesh in a female Geneva gear 171, the position of the carrying toothy being such that the gear 170 will cause the gearl bevel pinion, in turn, meshes with a lbevel gear174, which is formed integrally with a bein similar bevel gear 175, the latter. however,4 in mesh with the bevel pinion 176 of a. di erential gear set whose common gear is shown at 177. The bevel pinion 176 is in mesh also with a bevel gear 178. the latter being formed .integrally with the driving pinion 111 whichk meshes with the driving p gear 108' of the tens numeral wheel 101.

c dicated by the arrows placed ripheries.

-ion will, in turn,

When, therefore, the units numeral wheel 1 00 of the surplus register moves from the 9 to the 0 position in a direction the reverse of that indicated by the arrow upon the associated'driving gear 107, the female Gear 171 will be causedto rotate in the directlon of the arrow shown upon its periphery. The gears 172, 173, 174 and 175 will be caused to rotate in the directions inupon their pe- We may assume, that the common gear 177 is stationa The pinion 176 will, therefore, be rotate to transmit motion, driving pinion 111in the direction of the arrow-shown upon its periphery. The movement ofthispincause the driving gear 108 associated with the tens numeral wheel 101 to be rotated for one-tenth of a revolution motion,/

in the direction of the arrowshown upon its` periphery. When, therefore, the units wheel 100 of the surplus register moves from its 9 to 0 position the tens numeral wheel 101 of the surplus register will be given a forward rotation `of one-tenth of a revolution. Conversely, if the units numeral wheel of the surplus register is moved backwardly from its 0 to its 9 position, it will in-effect subtract one from' the tens order by lcausing the tens numeral wheel to rotate one-tenth -of a revolution in the backward direction.

This vmotion necessary for the car 'ng operation will be transmitted and will ave in tracing the -just as the net liabilities register,

its effect upon the tens numeral wheel, even though the common gear 177 is being rotated at thek time the carrying motion is being transmitted from the units numeral wheel.

The same sort of carrying mechanism is interposed between the tens numeral wheel andl the hundreds numeral wheel of the surplus register, so. that each order will carry into or subtract from the next higher order, as is necessary in order that the correct results may be displayed. These carrying operations'will take place between any of the orders as may be necessary, regardless of the direct driving of the numeral wheels of the several orders. 4 In other words, the carrying operations and the direct driving operations may take. place simultaneously and without conflicting or interfering with one another.

It will be unnecessary to describe the mechanism forl carrying between the numeral wheels of the several orders of the scribed, as a result 4of whichthe units nu-A meral wheel 130 1s driven by meansfof the units driving gear 181; the tens numeral wheel 150'is driven by the tens driving gear 182, and the hundreds numeral wheel is driven by the hundreds driving gear 183. These driving ar's may be regarded yas in mesh 'with thee numeral wheels of corresponding order of a totalizer such as is shown in the aforesaid Hollerith Patent No. 998,095.` If, as a matter ofl fact, these driv# ing gears were connected respectively with the numeral vwheels .of the Hollerith totalizthere would be a duplication of numeral wheels displaying the same totals. The figures may, therefore, be omitted 'from the numeral/wheels of the Hollerith totali'zer,- and the results read from the numeral wheels 130, 150 and 180. B

Fig. 4 illustrates the whole of the surplus register, as indicated in Fig. 3. It indicates the Whole of the net liabilities register. To save confusion, l however, in reading the drawing, I have not. shown the numeral wheels 126, 141 andV 185 of the net assets register as provided with their carrying and driving mechanisms. These numeral wheels are shown in ay plane slightly to the rear of ing register,

that in which the surplus register and net ing it in conformity with the difference between thel amounts registered by the assets debit register and the assets credit register, as shown scription and in Fig. 4, is arranged to be driven in conformity with the difference in the accumulations in the liabilities credit register and the liabilities debit register. I have shown in full the liabilities credit register, comprising numeral wheels 130, 150, 180, etc. The numeral wheels 131, 151 and 186 of 'the liabilities debit register fall, however, in a plane to the rear of that in which the registers fully shown are arranged, and to avoid confusion I have not, therefore, illustrated the carrying and driving mechanism associated with these numeral wheels of the liabilities debit register. The driving and carrying mechanism is identical, however, with that shown in conjunction wtih the numeral wheels 130, 150 and 180.

It will be apparent from the above det-he showing of Fig. 4 of the drawings, that the net liabilities register will at all times show the difference between the amounts accumulated in the liabilities credit register and the liabilities debit register, also that the net assets register will show at all times the difference between the accumulations in the assets debit register and the assets credit register, and also that the surplus register will show at all times the difference between the accumulations in the net assets register and the net liabilities register.

It will be apparent that the several registers may be provided with any number of numeral wheels, all connected together and operating in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4 in which, for convenience, I have illustrated registers having only three orders of numeral wheels.

The registers or totalizers assigned to eX- pense debits, expense credits, revenue debits, revenue credits, net expenses, net revenues, and profit (or loss) are geared together in a manner identical with that shown in Fig. 4 and particularly described in connection with the upper half, of the diagram of Fig. 3. The classification of accounts in a double-entry system may be and, in fact, should be such that the profit or loss displayed by the profit register will equal the surplus or deficit displayed by the surplus register for any given period of time. `It is not uncommon to regard the surplus as accumulating from the commencement of the business,

while the profit or loss is frequently accumulated for shorter periods of time as, for example, one year. In order that the profit shall equal the surplus. it is necessary that both be accumulated from the commencement of the business, or else that both be accumulated for like periods of time, as, for example, one year.

The numeral wheels of the surplus register and the numeral wheels of the profit register may be connected through differential drivin mechanism, such as is illustrated in Fig. 4, with the numeral wheels of an equilibrium register such as that marked with the word Check in Fig. 3.

After a given lot of cards have been grouped and computed in the manner heretofore described, the check register should 7( stand'at zero because the amount shown by the profit register should equal the amount shown by the surplus register.

After a given lot of cards have been sorted and computed in the manner described and if it is found that the check register shows something other than zero, it is an immediate indication of the fact that there has been some mistake in the sorting or computing of the record cards. In Fig. 3, I have illustrated the check register as indicating a difference of $10.00 between the amount totalized in the surplus register and the amount totalized in the profit register. This discrepancy at once advises the necessity of an investigation to determine the source of error. Fig. 3 is drawn upon the assumption that there has been a failure lto run the credit card B through the appropriate computing machine or unit. This card B represents a debit to account No. 10 and a credit to account No. 869. The amount is $10.00. Account No. 869 is a revenue account and it may be assumed that the failure to runthis card through the computing machine or unit has been due to the loss of the card in handling. When a search for the lost card has located it, it may be run through the computing machine assigned to revenue credits. IVhen, thereforethis card has been run through this computing machine or unit, the total of $56,990, as indicated in the revenue credit totalizer, will be increased to $57,000, correspondingly increasing the indication of the net revenue register from $54,990 to $55,000, and correspondingly increasing the indication of the profit register from $19,990 to $20,000. This added movement of the numeral wheels of the profit registers will, cause a movement of the numeral wheels of the check register, as

a result of which this register will read 00000000. While this showing is not a check upon the accuracy with which the record cards have been punched to conform with the transactions which they should represent, it is a check upon the accuracy with which the sorting, grouping, and computing have been accomplished.

It will be apparent that while my invention involves the use of the inventions dis-` closed in the early Hollerith patents, it involves an improvement upon the methods or arts claimed in Hollerith Patents Nos.

395,781 and 395,782. Ihave, therefore, chosen l in some instances to claim my invention in language conforming, 1n so far as the sub- )ect-matter may be common, with the 1an- .guage of certain claims of said Hollerith patents. In reading and interpreting my claims, however, it should be understood that the term card is used broadly to cover the record 'of a single transact-ion, whether punched in a single sheet. or in duplicate, triplicate, or other manifolded sheets. `For convenience also, I have in the appended claims referred to the punching such langu the interpretation of these claims in' such registering. devices representing the items4 count to be debited,

tioningthe points Within the debit manner as to cover equivalents not coming Within the precise terminology of the claims.

`What I claim is: x

y1. The herein described improvement in the art of mechanical accounting which consists in first arranging a standard indicatingthe relative position in which characteristics of an individual transaction are to berecorded in an amount field and in a debit field and in a credit field, any given indicia vin the. credit field referring to the same account as the .same indicia in the debit field; secondly, forming a record of each transaction by` locating index points upon a card, said index points representingthe ac,

the account to be credited and the amount of the transaction and bearing a determinate relation to each other and to the standard; thirdly, sorting said cards into groups determlned by the location of index 'points representative of accounts and finally submitting the ,se arate lcards of each group successively to t e action of controlling devices for operating to be compiled.

2. The improvement in the art of mechani-I cal accounting as hereinbefore described,

consisting in first locating a series o f sepa.-

cards, such` rate points upon a series of points arranged Within a debit field, a credit field and an amount field upon each of a. series of cards, each point having a fixed relation to all the others; secondly, apporfield and those within the credit field amon thel several primary accounts of a given" edger seriesy and givingtoieach account as its representative one or more points in the debit field and one or Vmore corresponding points in the credit field; thirdly, forming upon each card the complete record of one individual transaction by punching in the repref sentative point or points a circuit-controlling index-hole be debited,` a circuit-controlling index hole or holes for the account to be credited and a hole or holes for the amount of the transactiong'applying all the cards thus formed separately and controlling apparatus operated by the index holes designating the account to be debited and once to circuit-controlling apparatus operated by the index holes to designate the account to ing and grouping the cards by means operated under the control of the circuit controlling apparatus; and separately totalizing the amounts represented by the hole or holes of each group.

3. The improvement in the art of mechanical accounting as hereinbefore described consisting in, first, locating a series of sepf arate points upon a series of cards, such successively. once to circuit! or holes for the account nto be credited; mechanically sort- Q points arranged within a debit field, a credit i field, and an amount field upon each of the series of cards, each point having a fixed relation to all of the others; secondly, apportioning the points Within the debit field audit-hose within the credit field among the several primary accounts of a given ledger series and giving to each account, as its representative, one or more points in the debit field and one or more points in the credit field; thirdly, forming upon each card the complete record of one individualtransratus. v

4. The method Whichconsists of the fol lowing steps: punching an-accounting card counterbalancingly for a double-entry ac- -counting transaction, to-wit: in one field withthe number of the ledger account to be debited, in a second field with'the number of the ledger account to a third field with the amount to be debited to the one and credited to the other of the two ledger accounts so punched; punching other` cards in the same manner, one each of the other simple accounting transactions in the series ertaining to 'a given ledger for a given period; sortlng the cards so punched according to the accounts to be action by punching in the 'representativebe credited, and in forv all of the vcards b v means con- A trolled by the said circuit controlling appa- .operated by the index holes debited; computing the amounts of the cards so sort-ed by separately and successively applying each such debit cards of the group to controlling' apparatus operated by the index holes representative of amounts; sorting the same cards according to the accounts to be credited; and iinally, computing the amounts of the cards so sorted by separately and successively applying the cards of each such debit group to controlling apparatus representatlve of amounts.

5. The art which consists in, punching each of ay series debit field, a credit field, and an amount field) in accordance with a different one of a series of business transactions, with a hole or holes in the debit field, a hole or holes in the credit eld, and a hole or holes in the amount eld,-all of said holes being punched in conformity with a pre-arranged standard in which each of a set of ledger accounts is distinguishably designated both in the debit field and in the credit eld, and in which various amounts are distinguishably designated; and twice sorting the cards indicative of all of said transactions into roups, once under a control exercised by the gole or holes punched in the debit fields of said cards and once under a control exercised by the hole or holes punched in the creditelds of said cards.

6. The art which consists in, punching each of a series of cards (each having a debit field, a credit field, and an amount field) in accordance with a different one of a series of business transactions, with a hole or holes in the debit field, a hole or holes in the credit field, and a hole or holes of cards (each having a- `in the amount eld,-al1 of said holes being `punched in conformity with a pre-arranged standard in which each of a set of ledger accounts is distinguishably designated both in the debit field and in the credit eld, and in Which various amounts are distinguishably designated; twice sorting the cards indicative of all of said transactions into groups, once under a control exercised by the hole or holes punched in the debit fields of said cards and once cised by the hole or holes punched in the credit fields of said cards; and separately totalizing the amounts represented by the holes punched in the amount fields of all of the cards of each such group by means controlled by the holes punched in the amount fields of the cards of each such group respectively.

7. A series of double-entry accounting cards for tabulating ledger accounts mechanically by tabulating machines of the Hollerith type, each havmg a debit field, a credit field, and an amount field, and each punched with a hole or holes to designate an account to be debited and an account to be credited and the amount of one of a journal series of transactions, all in conformity with a common pre-arranged Standard in which each ledger account has assigned to it an index point or points both inthe debit field and in the credit field.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe under a control exer- Vmy name this 9th day of October, A. D.

CHARLES H.- TALLMADGE, Witnesses? FREDERIC W. CLAUS, MARY L. TAILMADGE. 

